Episode #136 - The Superhero Secret

Ash and friends are walking through a forest on their journey to Azalea Town. Ash sees a shadow gliding through the trees. Brock recognizes the shape as a Gligar, a bat-like Pokémon which is temperamental and is shy of people. Ash calls to the Gligar to come out, then they all fall into a hole.

Team Rocket appears, puts a gate over the hole and starts to pump water into it, thinking they'll be able to catch Pikachu when it floats to the top. Ash wants Pikachu to attack but Brock points out that since they're in water they'll all be electrocuted. As Team Rocket pumps more water down, Togepi slips out of Misty's arms, falls into the water and panics.

Suddenly the Gligar comes down, crashes through the gate and rescues Togepi. A pudgy man in a purple costume jumps onto a tree branch and identifies himself as Gligarman, the defender of the defenseless! Team Rocket says they have never heard of him, much to his embarrassment. Misty thinks he must be a superhero because he rescued Togepi.

Gligarman tells his Gligar to attack Team Rocket, and it swoops down and latches onto Jessie's face. Meowth tries to attack with Fury Swipes but the Gligar lets go at the last moment, and Meowth ends up scratching Jessie's face instead. She starts to fight with him, but when the Gligar comes back, TR gets scared and run away.

The three friends climb out of the hole and Misty is grateful for the help. Gligarman tries to jump down from the tree but falls on his face instead. He returns Togepi to Misty then jumps into the bushes and comes back with a large motorbike. After giving Brock a whistle with a Gligarman symbol on it, he drives away.

No sooner has he left when a teenage girl comes on a bicycle and apologizes for any trouble Gligarman has caused. Her name is Latoya; Brock flirts with her and gets dragged away by Misty. Ash asks Latoya if she knows who Gligarman is, and she gets nervous and bikes away toward a town.
The friends go to town and discover a toy store that sells Gligarman toys. Brock recognizes Latoya's voice inside, she's a salesgirl. Again Ash asks her about Gligarman. The store's owner, also Latoya's father, comes out and begins to show them a video about Gligarman.

After the video ends, Togepi starts to pull on the owner's pant leg and acts as if it recognizes him. Misty becomes suspicious, and the man accidentally calls her by name. Ash claps a mask on him and he is revealed to be Gligarman. Brock asks him if he can date Latoya, and Ash wants to know if he has a secret cave. He tells them to keep quiet because nobody else must know about who he is.

Team Rocket is outside watching with binoculars, they realize Gligarman is a fake and decide to deal with the "impostor superhero" by acting like supervillains. Jessie dresses in a black outfit while the other two have Metapod costumes.

The owner and Latoya show the three friends around their mansion after making them promise not to tell anyone about it. It turns out that Gligarman wasn't originally a superhero. When the toy store was first opened, sales weren't doing so well, so the owner dressed up in a Gligarman costume and made action figures for publicity. Gligarman became so popular that he realized that he liked being a superhero as well as a businessman. Latoya isn't happy about it but her father insists that people need someone to look up to.

On the bottom floor is a large secret laboratory, and Gligar is there waiting. Gligarman suggests that Ash could be his replacement so he can retire but Ash declines, saying he wants to be a Pokémon master. Brock offers to do it but Latoya tells him to get serious and he gets upset. Suddenly an alarm goes off and video screens show that the store is being attacked. Gligarman and his Gligar rush off, and Ash runs after them to help.

TR has tied up several employees and is making a mess of the store when Gligarman and Ash show up and challenge them. Gligar latches onto James' face this time, but Meowth appears driving a large robotic Spinarak which he uses to trap Gligarman, Ash and Pikachu in a cocoon. The robot punches through the wall to the outside, and Meowth ties the cocoon onto a lamp post.

Employees run out of the store, addressing Gligarman as "Mr. Parker" and saying they have faith in him. Gligarman realizes that they had known all along who he was. Before he can say anything, a mysterious girl in a Gligar costume appears on the roof of the store, calling herself Gligirl. She calls to Gligar, who recognizes her, and obeys her command to cut the cocoon down from the pole.

Freed, Ash sends Pikachu out. TR try to catch him but he's too fast. Gligar keeps James on the run with its Poison Sting attack. Meowth uses the robot to shoot webs, but the Gligar stops it with a Quick Attack, and Pikachu follows up with Thunderbolt. The robot goes out of control and explodes, sending Team Rocket blasting off. Gligirl disappears as the store employees applaud the performance.

Later, Ash asks Latoya why she decided to become Gligirl, and she says when she saw them all in trouble she grabbed a costume. Gligarman still isn't ready to retire so Ash suggests that they work together as a father-daughter team for a while, and they briefly argue over who gets to have Gligar. As Ash and friends leave, Gligarman reminds them to call if they ever get into trouble.